Track and roller combination for sliding screen doors



J. BANNER May 8, 1962 TRACK AND ROLLER COMBINATION FOR SLIDING SCREEN DOORS Filed June 19, 1959 FIG. I.

FIG. 3.

INVE/V 70R JUMP/l inf/MS? A 7' TORNE Y United States Patent Ofiice 3,033,285 Patented May 8, 1962 3,033,285 TRACK AND ROLLER CUMBINATION FOR SLIDING SCREEN DOGRS Joseph Banner, Whittier, Caiih, assignor to Anjac Manufacturing (10., Los Angeles, Calif., 21 firm Filed June 19, 1959, Ser. No. 821,549 4 Claims. (Cl. 160-363) This invention relates to a track and roller combination for sliding screen doors.

Sliding screen doors, particularly those for outside exposure, are commonly fabricated from rectangular tubular members which are spliced or welded at mitered corners. After assembly the frames slide or roll in or on guide tracks in the structural framing defining the door opening. The frames have heretofore generally been equipped with spring mounted rollers at the top edge which ride on a tongue track or in a groove, there being vertical adjustability of the frame. The bottom edge of the frame is provided with a pair of grooved rollers which are mounted rigidly in the tubular framing on or in the lower member of the frame, the roller itself extending below the edge of the frame and riding astride a track which is part of the sill member of the door framing. Because of the sagging of structural members or misalignment of framing and other members, the upper guide track and the lower supporting track are not always in precise parallel alignment. In addition, the frames, particularly of the so-called patio door type, are frequently quite large in dimensions, and because of their construction from light weight aluminum tubing and screening, the grooved supporting rollers have a tendency to jump the track when they are manipulated by hand pushing especially at a point above the center line, even though spring mounted upper rollers are intended to keep the lower rollers on the track.

The principal object of this invention is therefore to provide means to prevent occasional jumping of the track by the lower rollers of screen door frames. Another object is to provide a track and roller combination which permits easy mounting of the screen frame rollers on the track, but which prevents removal of the rollers from the track during operational movement of the screen frame. Another object is to eliminate the necessity for spring rollers on the top edge of the screen frame.

These and other objects are attained by my invention which will be understood from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a sliding screen door set in a structural frame defining the opening for the sliding door;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the retainer clip for holding the roller against vertical displacement from the track.

The metal frame 11, usually of fabricated aluminum tubing, of a sliding screen door 12 is provided with a pair of lower roller assemblies 17, which are mounted in spaced apart relation within the hollow lower horizontal member 18 of the frame 11, the rollers 16 of these assemblies protruding below the lower edge of the screen. The rollers 16 are provided with a deep groove 19, the flanges 23 of which straddle the head 21 of the specially formed track 20, which is attached to or is integral with the sill 15 of the door frame 22 which defines the opening in the structure.

The upper horizontal member 14 of the frame 11 is adapted to slide in the upper guide groove 45 formed in the door frame 22.

The specially formed track 20 on the sill member 15 consists of an upright web member 24 integral with or attached to the sill 15, the upper edge of said member eing turned laterally to form a rounded track head 21, and also to form an overhanging lip 26. The overhanging lip 26' is disposed at an angle approximately 50 from the vertical and is preferably tapered to a rounded narrow edge 28 to facilitate engagement with the retainer clips 3t] of the lower roller assembly 17 as will be described.

It will be understood that the sill 15 is generally made of a shaped extrusion of aluminum metal which is subsequently cut to the desired length for the door frame opening. The track 20 with the overhanging lip member 26 as described is formed integrally with the extruded sill, which may have other linear groove walls, for example the vertical member 29 shown.

The lower roller assemblies 17 are mounted in or on the lower horizontal members of the screen frame 11. As shown in the drawings, the preferred construction involves the use of a hollow formed aluminum member having a laterally opened groove 31 which is adapted for the mounting therein and securing of the screen fabric.

The horizontal frame member 18 is provided with a re-entrant groove 32 at the bottom edge which, except at the positions where the lower roller assemblies are mounted, serves to close the lower horizontal members 18 and also serves as a stiffener for the member. Two lower roller assemblies 17 are generally mounted on each screen frame, these being spaced a short distance from the ends of the horizontal member 18. The metal constituting the re-entrant groove structure 32 adjacent the roller assemblies 17 is removed to provide an opening in the lower edge of the horizontal member 18 in which opening is mounted the lower roller assembly 17. These assemblies consist of the grooved roller 16, preferably made of nylon or other similar plastic material, the roller 16 being mounted for rotation on a metal bushing 35 which is slightly longer than the thickness of the roller 16, the ends of said bushing abutting one side wall 34 of the member 18 and the face of the retainer clip 33 thus preventing binding of the roller. The bushing is mounted for rotation on the shank 37 of the belt 36 the bolt being provided with a flat head 38 on one end, the shank adjacent the head having a squared portion 39, this squared portion being adapted to engage the square hole 40 in the retainer clip 3%, which in the assembly is disposed between the end of the bushing 35 and one side wall 33. LA nut '41 is provided to fit on the threaded end portion 36' of the bolt 36, this nut in the assembly being disposed outside the other side wall 34 of the member 18. The side walls 33 and 34 are provided with rectangular holes 43 disposed so that the squared end portion 39 and the threaded end portion 36' of bolt 36 may be therein adjusted up and down to determine the extent of the projection of the grooved roller 16 below the lower margins of the side walls 33 and 34.

The retainer clip 30 consists of an elongated piece of springy metal or rigid plastic sheet, this being provided near one end with the square hole '40 and at the opposite end edge with a hook margin 44 which is adapted to engage the overhanging lip 26 of the track. The retainer clip is made of material which is sufliciently springy so that it may be pressed laterally at the end portion projecting below the side wall 18 to slip past the tapered edge 23 of the overhanging lip 26 of the track head 21. When assembled on the track 21 with the grooved roller 16 contacting the rounded track surface 21, the hook margin 44 of the retainer clip is engaged under the overhanging lip 26, being retained in this interlocked position by the flanges 23 of rollers 16. With the upper horizontal member 14 in place in the upper guiding groove 45, the lower horizontal member 18 of the frame 11 may not be raised sufficiently (as in sliding the door) to disengage the rollers because of the engagement of the hook margin 44 with the overhanging lip 25 of the track.

I prefer to use for the retainer clip a rigid but springy synthetic plastic material such as rigid vinyl resin because this material avoids gouging and frictional engagement with the soft aluminum of the track. This is im portant because when the retainer clip is made of metals as hard or harder than aluminum, the coetficient of friction and the Well known tendency to gouge the soft aluminum makes the use of such metal clips less desirable than the rigid vinyl resin pieces.

It will be understood that details of this construction may be varied within the limits of the applicants invention as defined in the following claims.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent from the above description. The use of the retainer clips under a specially formed track surface with an overhanging lip prevents the door frame from jumping the track in its sliding operation, either to open or to close.

The screen door frame is easily mounted because of the freedom of vertical adjustment in the upper guide groove, and, because of the springiness of the retainer clips these may be pressed over and snapped under the overhanging lip 26, into operative position under the lip. Thereafter the lower roller assembly on the track may not be removed without removing the roller assemblies.

I claim:

1. A sliding screen door comprising a metal frame having a tubular lower horizontal member, grooved rollers mounted for rotation on a bushing within said lower horizontal frame member, the flanges of said rollers extending through an opening below said frame member; a bolt holding said bushing in said horizontal frame member; and a resilient retainer clip mounted by said bolt on the lower horizontal frame member adjacent to and extending below the lower peripheries of said roller flanges, said clip having a hooked edge adapted to be engaged under the lip of a track upon which said grooved roller is adapted to roll.

2. The sliding screen door defined in claim 1, in which the lip of the track is aluminum metal, and the retainer clip is composed of rigid springy synthetic plastic material, said material being characterized by low sliding friction in contact with aluminum metal.

3. In combination, a sliding screen door having a rectangular frame with vertical and horizontal frame members, and having a plurality of flanged rollers mounted on the lower horizontal frame member thereof, the

flanges of said rollers extending below said frame memher; a track consisting of a base, a head and a web supporting said head on said base, said head being provided with an angularly disposed inwardly directed depending lip directed away from the track web, said lip being made of aluminum metal, the head of said track being shaped to be received between the flanges of said rollers, said flanges preventing lateral displacement of said rollers from said track; and a springy retainer clip mounted on the lower horizontal frame member and extending below the lower peripheries of said roller flanges, said clip having an upwardly directed hooked edge disposed to make sliding engagement under said track lip, said clip being composed of rigid springy synthetic plastic material, said material being characterized by low sliding friction in contact With aluminum metal.

4. In combination, a sliding screen door having a rectangular frame with vertical and horizontal frame members, and having a plurality of flanged rollers mounted on the lower horizontal frame member thereof, the flanges of said rollers extending below said frame member; a track consisting of a base, a head and a web supporting said head on said base, said head being provided with an angularly disposed inwardly directed depending lip directed away from the track web, the head of said track being shaped to be received between the flanges of said rollers, said flanges preventing lateral displacement of said rollers from said track; and a springy retainer clip mounted on the lower horizontal frame member and extending below the lower peripheries of said roller flanges, said clip having an upwardly directed hooked edge disposed to make sliding engagement under said track lip, the said hooked edge of said retainer clip being sufliciently springy to be displaced laterally by a downward thrust to make engagement under said track lip; and said retainer clip hooked edge and said track lip being then disposed between the flanges of said rollers, whereby said rollers may not be removed vertically from said track.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 499,222 Garner June 13, 1893 992,760 Dudley May 23, 1911 1,118,721 Wiss Nov. 24, 1914 1,141,328 Gilroy June 1, 1915 1,360,777 Murphy Nov. 30, 1920 1,394,216 Parker et al. Oct. 18, 1921 1,448,845 Johnson et al. Mar. 20, 1923 2,225,679 Beauchamp Dec. 24, 1940 2,627,092 Grossman Feb. 3, 1953 2,719,340 Best et al. .c Oct. 4, 1955 

